ARRL Membership Postcard Found in QST
June 1940 QST Article

Membership in the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is currently $49.00 per year, and includes a subscription to its flagship publication, QST. According to this postcard insert that I found in a June 1940 issue of QST, membership then was a whopping $2.50, and it also included the magazine subscription. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' online Inflation Calculator, $2.50 in 1940 bought you what you buy for $51.83 in 2022 (it was $42.59 in 2016 when this was first posted). Because of the extremely high rate of inflation today (2022), the effective cost of ARRL membership is less today than in 1940. To wit, $49.00 in 2022 would have been $2.36 in 1940.

BTW, postage for mailing a postcard in 1940 was a mere 2¢, and today is 40¢. In inflationary terms, 2¢ in 1940 bought the same as 41¢ in 2022 - nearly equivalent! The U.S. Postal Service earns an "attaboy" for that one.

American Radio Relay League Postcard

American Radio Relay League

38 La Salle Road

West Hartford, Conn, U.S.A.

Membership-Subscription Order Card

Please enter my A.R.R.L. membership-QST subscription for one year and send me a bill for $2.50.* Begin with ................. issue.

Name ______________________________

Address ____________________________

___________________________________

* This order card applicable only for United States and Possessions.

Posted June 22, 2022
(updated from original post on 8/9/2016)